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Can i use aluminum for a home built steady rest?
- Thread starter oogenshire
- Start date
Remember that aluminum is one-third the stiffness of steel as a material. So, if the steady needs to be as stiff as if made of iron, it needs three times the sectional area at the weakest points. The pictures above demonstrate this understanding--the steady is designed with a large sectional area to make up for the material.
That's only the case if the steady needs to be as stiff as the official model, which for any given project it may not. Probably most cast iron steadies are heavier structures than they need to be for their design.
But nobody was every penalized for using a steady rest that was too stiff.
Rick "who might build a follow rest someday for the South Bend" Denney
That's only the case if the steady needs to be as stiff as the official model, which for any given project it may not. Probably most cast iron steadies are heavier structures than they need to be for their design.
But nobody was every penalized for using a steady rest that was too stiff.
Rick "who might build a follow rest someday for the South Bend" Denney
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2021
- Messages
- 1,803
Frank Hoose made one from Aluminum:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLPP9zpsEfn67kY-mrSFGuiG1UnhUuFlV&si=KFlfPViyWNdyPTfO
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLPP9zpsEfn67kY-mrSFGuiG1UnhUuFlV&si=KFlfPViyWNdyPTfO